City Council Approves Water Utility Rate Increase

McKinney’s residents will soon see their water bills rise by an average of $2.02 per month. This increase was part of the fiscal 2014 tax rate passed by the McKinney City Council at its meeting on Tuesday evening.

The increased rate is due to a recommendation from city staff to increase the fund balance of the water and wastewater fund. The 2.5 percent increase will continue until 2018.

According to the presentation made to the council, the average monthly increase on McKinney residents’ water bills will be $2.02 in 2013, $2.07 in 2014, $2.12 in 2015, $2.17 in 2016, $2.22 in 2017, and $2.28 in 2018.

The vote on this item was passed by the council with a 6-1 margin. Councilman Ray Ricchi was the lone dissenting vote, telling his fellow council members that, “we’re raising the rates on our citizens and that’s why I can’t support this.”

The council also voted on several other items during Tuesday’s meeting, including:

Council Votes to End Management Agreement with Collin County Airport Board: The council will now have full authority over the operations and any decisions made regarding Collin County Regional Airport after the council voted to end the city’s management agreement with the Collin County Airport Board.

Previously, the airport board had the authority to set airport policy and make decisions regarding the airport’s operations. As part of the city’s purchase of assets at CCRA, the council will now oversee any and all decisions related to the airport.

Going forward, the airport board will present recommendations to the council about policy and other airport issues. The council will then chose to ratify those recommendations or to deny them.

Council Approves Community Garden Land Use Designation: The council approved a new land use designation designed to bring more community gardens to McKinney. According to the resolution approved by council, a community garden is defined as an area less than three acres and used for the “cultivation of horticultural goods including but not limited to fruits, vegetables and herbs.”

The resolution also stated that community gardens will not include the retail sale or barter for any goods.

Agreement for Public Safety Training Facility Construction Tabled Again: The council again tabled a proposed agreement between the City and Collin College for the construction of a new public safety training facility. The agenda item was initially tabled on Sept. 3 and will now be tabled again until Oct. 1 per City Manager Jason Gray’s request. Gray stated that there were still several terms of the agreement that were still in negotiation.

If approved, the facility would be used to train the city’s police and fire department personnel. According the resolution, the city is prepared to offer free use of city-owned land near Redbud Boulevard and Bloomdale Road and fund up to $2.5 million in construction costs. The city expects the facility to be open in the middle of 2015.